


Heartbeats

by aintitnifty



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Please Save Me From The Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-18
Updated: 2014-02-18
Packaged: 2018-01-12 21:47:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1201792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aintitnifty/pseuds/aintitnifty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not a real kiss until someone's foot pops.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heartbeats

**Author's Note:**

> "You know, in the old movies whenever a girl would get seriously kissed, her foot would just kind of… pop." - _The Princess Diaries_

The gym is quiet but for the even, echoing thunks of Kagami’s dribbling as he practices his three pointers. Everyone else has already retreated for the night into the locker room to shower and change, and it’s just the two of them in the vast silence of the gym.

Kuroko watches Kagami through his bangs as he collects the other balls from around the court, tossing them into a tall gray bucket on the sidelines. He watches as Kagami steps into position, dribbles three times—slow, even bounces, firm and controlled—and then exhales, bends his knees, lifts the ball, and extends his whole body into the shot. Kuroko tries not to stare for too long at the graceful curve of Kagami’s wrist, the long arc of his arms, the gleam of sweat on his forehead, the flash of tummy as his t-shirt rides up, lifted by broad, flexing shoulders… but it’s hard.

Really, stupidly hard.

The swish of the ball through the net brings Kuroko’s attention back to the task at hand and he ducks down to pick up a worn ball. He spins it in his hands, absently noting the worn down pebbling, the faded black logo, and then tosses it into the bucket with the others; perhaps he should talk to Riko or Hyuuga about getting a few new balls.

“You about done?”

Kuroko most certainly does not jump when that low voice speaks up from right behind him, but he does turn to fix Kagami with a slight frown. Kagami doesn’t look the least bit repentant, probably too proud of finally being the one to scare Kuroko for a change.

“I was waiting for Kagami-kun,” Kuroko says, holding his hands out. Kagami passes him the ball he’d been practicing with, and Kuroko swats it expertly into the bucket.

“Show-off,” Kagami says with a smirk, and Kuroko just blinks at him.

“Are you ready to go?” he says, gesturing toward the locker room, and color floods Kagami’s cheeks.

“Actually,” Kagami says, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, “there was something I was hoping I could ask you. As long as we’re alone.”

Kuroko tilts his head inquisitively. Kagami keeps glancing toward the locker room door and then down at his feet, but every time his eyes meet Kuroko’s, they’re bright with an emotion that Kuroko doesn’t quite understand, but that makes his heart jump a little, like he just ran a marathon.

“What is it?” he asks.

“Well, I was kind of hoping that… er… well, that I could kiss you.”

Kuroko feels his breath leave him in a giant gust, and he stares up at Kagami with wide eyes, unsure if he heard him correctly.

“You want to,” he says, and then breaks off, before shaking his head—trying to clear the ringing in his ears—and starting again: “You want to do what?”

“Look, I’ve liked you for a while now,” Kagami says, and his words come out in a rush, almost too quickly for Kuroko to catch, “and I think you’ve liked me, too? That might be presumptuous, but I figured I’d ask anyway, because we have something great here, and I think _this_ could be great, too—“ He waves a hand between them. “—but if you’re not up for it, that’s fine, I swear I won’t be offended, we can just go straight back to how things have been, no worries, I just figured I’d, you know…” Kagami finally pauses, shrugging, looking for all intents and purposes like a giant kid, shy and blushing and awkward, before finishing with: “I figured I’d try.”

Kuroko exhales very slowly, utterly unable to drag his gaze away from Kagami’s face, from the worry line between his brows, the stubborn set of his jaw, his sharp eyes and flushed cheeks.

“Okay,” Kuroko says at last, breathlessly, and reaches up to curl his hands into Kagami’s collar and tug him down into a kiss.

Their teeth clash for a moment, and Kagami makes a surprised sound against Kuroko’s lips, but he settles into the kiss quickly enough, one hand sliding into Kuroko’s hair, the other twining around his waist, hand spread firmly across the small of Kuroko’s back, drawing him close.

Kuroko feels like he just drew a breath after minutes of being underwater. He closes his eyes and leans into Kagami’s warmth, uncurling his hands from Kagami’s collar to link his fingers together behind Kagami’s neck. He wonders vaguely if his lips are too dry for this, if he should have opened his mouth before now, if there’s something different he should be doing with his hands, but then he feels the soft shift of Kagami’s lips against his and the gentle brush of tongue against his bottom lip, so he parts his lips and sighs into the kiss and yes, that feels the way it should, that feels incredible, and it’s a good thing Kagami knows what he’s doing, because Kuroko is completely overwhelmed. Kuroko thinks he can feel Kagami’s heart beating against his, too close, too warm.

No… not too close. Not close enough.

Kuroko leans into Kagami’s chest and lets out a soft sound when he feels Kagami’s hand clench against his lower back, holding him tighter. As Kuroko’s weight shifts, he can feel his right leg slowly lifting off the ground, bending at the knee, lifting higher and higher until—

His foot meets something hard and plastic. Before he has time to pull away, he feels the plastic give way and start to topple, and then the gym explodes with sound as the bucket of balls tips, sending balls bouncing everywhere.

Kagami jolts in surprise and lifts his head, breaking the kiss, and Kuroko can’t help but feel disappointed. His lips are still tingling, and he wishes he and Kagami were still kissing.

“What the hell,” Kagami breathes. “Was that you?”

“Maybe,” Kuroko says, mostly into Kagami’s chest. It’s a very nice chest, really—strong and broad and so, so warm—and yes, he thinks he’ll just rest his forehead here, to hide his burning cheeks.

“What happened?” Kagami asks.

“My foot popped,” Kuroko says, but again, his voice is muffled against Kagami’s t-shirt.

“Say what?”

“My foot popped,” Kuroko repeats, louder this time, and Kagami says nothing. Kuroko peers up at him, thinking he’ll find him laughing, but instead he just sees Kagami’s blinding grin, and then they’re kissing again, and yes, that’s more like it, Kuroko can handle this.

And then he hears the locker room door slam open, and voices fill the gym, all yelling about what happened and what was going on and if everyone was all right. Kuroko ducks his head, curling close to Kagami’s chest again, and warmth spreads through his tummy when Kagami just holds him close and yells for the rest of the team to leave them alone, everything’s fine, they’re busy.

Kuroko assumes Kagami’s tone must do it—either that or the fact that everyone can see Kuroko huddled against Kagami’s chest—because the gym goes quiet once more, and then Kagami’s hand is beneath his chin, gently lifting his face, and Kuroko is faced once more with Kagami’s blinding smile.

“Now,” Kagami says, “where were we?”


End file.
